Please watch the Viewer Projects Video slideshow

These great projects were submitted to me in time for the viewers’ project drawing held by Zazu’s Stitch Art on December 16, 2016. You can see still images and credits elsewhere on the site: http://www.zazusstitchart.com/viewer-projects/

SPECIAL THANKS:

ALL the Drawing Participants Jane for the inspiration Frank for the music Diana for trying the most patterns (The winners have been contacted and have their prizes in hand.)

While only a handful or two participated, I believe these gorgeous projects show a great breadth and depth of creativity in the ZSA viewers. Thank you all for sticking your necks out on our shared journey. If your work was inspired by ZSA’s tutorial channel in ANY way, it is welcome here.

I am planning to do a quarterly drawing for two similar prizes. Any pictures submitted to me until March 15th will go in the next drawing (see general rules and information here: http://www.zazusstitchart.com/viewer-projects/), and I will consider your submission to carry permission to use the images in the next slideshow and here on the web unless you tell me otherwise. Remember that pictures can be in progress and that work may be inspired by ZSA tutorials in ANY way whatsoever. I will also enter you if you just ask me to, but the pics are needed for the next slideshow.

BTW – Franks says his music is like creative sewing: if it is too conventional or perfect, it is not as fun to make or as interesting!

This Flaky Whole Wheat Pie Crust comes together quickly in the food processor. At our house pie-making is usually a joint effort—I make the crust while Frank makes the filling—and it is usually something we decide to do after dinner. So, we don’t usually take the time to chill dough, etc. The worst thing about this pie crust is that you have to clean butter out of your food processor.

This is not the super light crust you can achieve with white flour, but by using ivory, or white, hard whole wheat (such as that sold by Bob’s Red Mill) you can regularly achieve a flaky and tasty crustwhile improving the nutrition profile of your favorite pie, quiche, or galette.

Years ago I saw Martha Stewart make a pie crust in a food processor on the Today Show. I scrawled her ingredient list in the top margin of the pie crust page of my favorite old cookbook. For several years, with a few tweaks, I used her method to whirl up some very nice crusts. Inevitably, though, I wanted my crusts to be a little healthier—not so much butter, no more white flour. I wanted a decent whole wheat pie crust.

Ingredients for Single (One) Whole Wheat Pie Crust

1 cup Ivory white hard whole wheat flour1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 stick cubed, hard butter. If salted, back off the salt a little.1/4 cup canola or other oilIced water, to drizzle, about 1/4 cup. Avoid adding cubes to the crust. Use more at high altitude.

Step 1. Place flour and salt in the food processor. Add hard butter cubes. Pulse until coarsely chopped, about 10 seconds. You should still see pieces of butter the size of chickpeas.

Step 3. Without sending in any ice cubes, drizzle in a thin stream of iced water and pulse just until the dough really clumps. You get used to this. Watch the video if you are unsure. (Also find video thumbnail and link below.) You should have a soft, moist dough with visible butter chunks. See image at the bottom of the page.

Here are all the pro sewing hack videos I have on YouTube. Please check them out if you haven’t had a chance. They are also available on YouTube on my Pro Sewing Hacks Playlist. Click a thumbnail and that video will open in another window.

Go from Homemade to Handmade

#1-12 Pro Sewing Hacks

Uploaded just 15 days after I created my YouTube channel, this is the video that started it all. Here I present a baker’s dozen of the most useful tools I have incorporated into my work over the years. Whether it is a large stock of extra bobbins, specialty threads (that fuse with heat or wash-away), or a sharp seam ripper, these hacks will help take your work from looking homemade, to looking handmade.